Bane

“You’re awfully quiet,” Vruzzy says, snapping me out of my daze. We’re sitting in Vruzzy’s van down the street from the research facility where they’re keeping Elena. Our plan for now is to wait for nightfall and then make our move. If everything goes as planned, I’ll have Elena out of there tonight.

“Just thinking,” I say.

“About your girl?”

“I’d say with the utmost certainty that she isn’t my girl. She made that very clear.”

“Well, it was the situation we were in.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Vruzzy. But I don’t see her forgiving me anytime soon.”

“The thing is, Bane, I’ve never known you to be hung up over a woman before. And I’ve known you for a long time. She must be something kind of special to you.”

I don’t say anything at first. Vruzzy’s right. I’ve always focused on my work, on the next job. But I was never concerned over a woman before. I suppose with Elena it could have been the timing. After spending nearly ten years in prison thinking you’re going to die down there, it changes your perspective. Even now her face flashes into my mind and it’s like a fist squeezing my heart. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“Yeah, she is something kinda special.”

It’s quiet in the van again, both of us keeping watch out of the windows to see if anyone is coming or going. It would be ideal if the guards would get the hell out of here by nightfall. It would make our job just a little easier.

“You know, I’ve always considered myself kind of like a father to you,” Vruzzy says, breaking the silence.

“Vruzzy,” I say with disbelief, “You’re only a few years older than me.”

“I know, but that makes me wiser. I can pass along advice.”

“I don’t know about that.”

We sit for a few minutes, another comfortable silence settling in the van. At one point I think I see one of the guards at a window in the main building. Now that they have Elena they might be planning on hanging around.

“So, how about a big brother?”

“What?” I ask.

“You know, if I’m not like a father to you, how about a big brother?”

“I mean, a big brother is more realistic, if we need to compare like this at all. Why do we need to classify?”

“I just thought since we’re sitting here with time to kill, I’d give you some advice. From a big brother to a younger brother.”

“And what would that advice be?”

“It’s about your girl. If you really care for her, you can’t give up so easily. You need to fight for her. I mean, obviously you’re broken up about this. You’re being very mopey.”

“I am not being mopey,” I say, correcting him quickly.

“Well, yes, a little mopey.”

“No,” I say, unwilling to let this go. “I’m focused. That’s very different. I’m determined to get her out of this mess because I got her into it. That’s different than being mopey.”

“Okay. And, it isn’t all your fault. Obviously she got herself into a bit of a mess if you were hired to keep her quiet.”

“She was just doing her job,” I say, feeling defensive of her.

“And so were you,” he says. “And as long as we get her out of there, what’s the real harm?”

“I betrayed her, Vruzzy. She’ll never trust me again. I am supposed to be the one to keep her safe. Instead, I handed her over.”

“Because you had a fucking explosive in your neck! You keep leaving that part out. Just explain it to her and she’ll see that it was the best solution to the situation for both of you.”

I exhale a long breath. I’m starting to prefer the quiet. And then, with almost perfect timing, two vehicles from the facility pull out.

“That must be Phantom. I’m sure he has other business to attend to,” I say. “And hopefully the Commissioner from Earth.”

“Yeah, that guy was a creep.”

“I don’t like the idea of Elena being inside with him. I don’t like the way he looks at her.”

“It won’t be long now. We’ll get inside and find her.”

We watch the cars turn and drive off. As the time ticks away, I’m getting more and more anxious. It’s torture to sit here and wait when Elena is so close. Not to mention I don’t know what they plan on doing with her. It’s somewhat comforting knowing that she’s pregnant and they aren’t going to do anything to jeopardize that. But I still want to see her.

“How long do we wait once it gets dark?” I ask.

“I know you’re not going to like it, but since it’s just the two of us, we need to wait until it’s late. When we think everyone will be asleep except for a few guards watching the security cameras or walking the perimeter.”

“I haven’t seen any guards walking the perimeter. But I did notice one at a window a little while ago. It’s possible they’re keeping it secure from the inside. So you’re going to need to work your magic on those security cameras so we can get inside without any of them knowing.”

“That’s what I live for. Let the fun begin, you know!” Vruzzy laughs and wiggles his fingers like he can’t wait to get his hands on their security system.

“Once we’re inside, download the information from their mainframe. Elena might be able to use it and it’s possible that there’s some valuable information in there.”

“Done,” he says. “I might even be able to do that from here.” He reaches behind his seat and pulls out his black case. Inside he has his laptop and many other things that must be standard when you need to break into a highly secure research facility. He sets the laptop in front of him and then goes to work. It’s a good thing I have someone like Vruzzy on my side because technology has changed so much. I used to be able to get through some security systems but not anymore. I have to leave that up to Vruzzy.

I keep an eye out of the window while his fingers fly over the keyboard. When I glance at the screen it’s moving and changing so quickly I don’t know how he even knows what’s popping up.

“Their system is secure from outside hacking, but not anything that I can’t get through. And I can do it without them knowing I’m doing it. That’s the key. You want to be able to get what you want without anyone ever knowing you were in there.”

“I think the government should have hired you, Vruzzy.”

“They tried, but I told Phantom to go fuck himself.”

“Man, I bet that felt good.”

“Oh yeah. The only thing better would be to make him take responsibility for his crimes over the years. Maybe take up residence in the cell that you recently vacated.”

“I would love to see that.”

“Me too, brother, me too.”

He works for a few more minutes and then the screen in front of him doesn’t flash so quickly. He’s actually looking over what he has found.

“Take a look at this,” he says. “They’ve already done a shit load of tests on Elena. Man, they didn’t waste any time.”

“Shit,” I say, leaning over so I can see the screen. “What can you find?”

“This is blood work results,” he says, pointing to the top of the screen. “It looks like they’re analyzing her blood to see how it compares to Suthune blood composition.”

He scrolls down the screen and clicks on something else. “These are scans…hold on a minute and I’ll pull them up.”

Seconds later, the black and white scans load on his screen. “They scanned her entire body, presumably to see if she’s healthy. But…here.” He clicks one of the images and it fills the entire screen.

“What am I looking at?” I ask.

“Your child,” Vruzzy says.

“I don’t mean to be an asshole, but that doesn’t look anything like a child.”

“Of course not. Not yet. You really can’t even see much at this point, it’s too early. But right here…” He points to a small circle in the center of the screen. “That’s the little embryo. Congratulations Bane. You’re going to be a father.”

I let that sink in. Up until now, it hasn’t felt real. But somehow this image confirms it. Elena and I are forever a part of each other now. We created life together. And that feels pretty damn amazing.

“That’s awesome,” I say, quietly. Because it is and the more I think about it, the more excited I let myself get. But then the reality of it also sinks in and the truth of it is staring me in the face. “But also, my girl just became the most sought after science investigation on the whole planet.”

“It’s something, alright,” Vruzzy says. “I’ll make a copy.”